A Yarn For Eleanor

When our now teenaged daughter was born, I wanted to find a way of including her in my garden.  We had just moved that year, and I spent much of my time on maternity leave planting while she napped.  Although I am not an experienced Iris grower, I love them.  My Grandmother always had a wide variety of Tall Bearded Iris in her garden, and a little bit of research on The Google informed me that the 1961 award winning Iris was named "Eleanor's Pride," which seemed perfect for my tiny Eleanor.

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Tracking an older, obscure Iris down was another matter, but I managed to find an eclectic Iris fanatic in Tennessee, and I ended up with five rhizomes.  They've flourished over the years and grown into two large patches.  Although they bloom briefly, they are well worth the effort.

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After a lot of experimentation, I managed to get a lovely representation of Eleanor's Pride on Seasilk yarn by layering on the color in repeated pale baths that seem to capture the fragility of the tint on the flower petals.  Seasilk is a wonderful yarn to work with — part silk and part Seacell fiber from seaweed.  It's perfect for shawls and scarves, as well as for light lacy sweaters.  I haven't decide what this yarn will become yet, but I am really looking forward to knitting with it.

3 thoughts on “A Yarn For Eleanor

  1. Love irises, I have a few in my garden that were transplanted from a friend’s garden years ago – the color of your sea silk is beautiful!

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